The present invention relates to an improvement in railroad freight car multilevel auto carriers used for transporting automobiles and vans.
Automobile vehicles such as cars, pick-up trucks and vans are routinely transported by rail carrier. For this purpose, the industry has developed specialized rail cars having multiple decks on which vehicles are positioned. In general, these rail cars may have either two or three decks. In some instances, the elevated decks may be vertically adjustable either to facilitate loading or to change the deck structure between a bi-level and a tri-level configuration. For example, a rail car may be configured with two decks, i.e., a floor and one elevated intermediate deck, for carrying vans which have a greater height, or configured with three decks if the cargo is compact cars. The external dimensions of such rail cars are not effected by adjustment of the deck positions.
Currently, many railroads are restricted from maximizing their economic opportunities when transporting automobiles, trucks and vans because of fixed height rail car construction on multilevel auto carriers, i.e., the height of the top of the auto carrier rail car is fixed with respect to the rail bed or tracks on which the car operates. For example, if a train is hauling a tri-level auto carrier rail car, that train may be required to travel longer routes to avoid the height restrictions imposed by low bridges and tunnels throughout the nation. In some instances, entire markets in some areas are removed from service because of height restrictions. In addition to the lost time, additional mileage and cost to route these trains, the rail carrier or shipper must keep an inventory of bi-level and tri-level cars to service the specific needs of customers with various vehicle types and sizes. If the rail carrier or shipper relies solely on lower height bi-level rail cars, capacity is lost in those areas without height restrictions thereby increasing the average shipping cost for all vehicles.